The OIFC Indian Diaspora Business Meet was held in Los Angeles, USA during the Regional Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (RPBD) in collaboration with the Consulate General of India in San Francisco and the Indian community organizations in USA. OIFC brought to LA a business delegation of 34 members led by Deep Kapuria, Chairman, Hi Tech Gears Ltd, and comprising leaders from Infosys, TATA Consultancy Services, Wipro LLC, Fox Mandal & Co, Centre for Innovation, Incubation & Entrepreneurship, etc. The OIFC delegation also included Mr Jupally Krishna Rao, Minister for Industry, Govt of Telangana, Mr IYR Rao, Chief Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh, and senior officials from Haryana State Industrial & Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIDC), Department of Industries, Government of Jharkhand and Department of NRI Affairs, Government of Kerala.
There were three Panel discussions on:
· Investment Opportunities in Clean & Renewable Energy Sector in India
· Technology Partnerships, Investments & Innovation through the Digital India Initiative
· Impact Investments into Social Enterprises in India
OIFC facilitated several business meetings between Overseas Indians & the members of the official & business delegation from India which are expected to pave the way for economic engagement of the Indian Diaspora in the US with India.
At the Business Meet OIFC launched the India Corporate Internship initiative which offers from Summer 2016, 60 paid internships at 23 top Indian corporates to students of Indian origin. The internships are a window to the Indian work culture, an opportunity to connect to roots and experience working in a multi-cultural environment.
The second programme that generated interest was the announcement of OIFC’s India Fellows Programme for young Diaspora entrepreneurs at the Indian School of Business (Hyderabad). The course, specially designed by OIFC for the Indian Diaspora, focuses on the Indian economy & doing business in India. The year-long engagement programme includes a special 10 day residential programme in India, curated networking opportunities with Indian Entrepreneurs, webinars, CEOspeak webinars, meetings with senior govt officials as well as domain experts. OIFC will also work with partners in USA to organize visits to India by business delegations of overseas Indians, under the ‘Business Connect’ Initiative.
Speaking on the occasion, Secretary, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India & Chairman, Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre Mr A K Agarwal, said “The Indian Government has a keen desire to engage with the Indian Diaspora and to invite them to participate in India’s economic Growth story.” He offered the services of the Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre to facilitate Overseas Indians’ investments from USA into India.
Mr Arun Singh, Ambassador of India to USA pointed out that the Indian Americans were contributing to the US economy significantly and called on them to explore opportunities to engage in the new focus areas of the Govt of India viz Digital India, Make in India, Start up India and Renewable energy.
Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry & Co-chair, OIFC noted that the Indian Diaspora in the US has contributed tremendously to shaping the brand image of India in US and the story of India is moving towards States of India. The delegations from five States – Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Kerala and Haryana highlighted the investment opportunities in their States and business climate.
The Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre (OIFC) was setup as a public private partnership between the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA), Government of India and the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) to enhance economic engagement of Indian Diaspora with India.
Los Angeles, USA
16th November 2015